I can understand now why they thought it was the end of the world – sitting in the dark for hours, day after day – it’s hard to imagine Sallisaw, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma. Oklahoma drought farmers. “Nothing to do. These fellers,” said one of them, “are goin to stay right here till they dry up […]
The Dust Bowl, also known as the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the US and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The migrants moved from terrible living conditions back home to not much better living conditions in California. The photographs below were taken by […]
Delightful vintage government film from 1937 midwest – reveals how the drought affected the midwest during the dust bowl The Water Carrier Scenes from 1937 midwest show the importance of water for drinking purposes illustrated by views of one well that serves an entire community. Water is doled out and counted by the bucketful. The commentator describes the […]
The Dust Bowl, also known as the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the US and Canadian prairies during the 1930s; severe drought and a failure to apply dry land farming methods to prevent wind erosion. Farmer and sons walking in the face of […]
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 was one of the main causes of the Great Depression that affected people across the country in many ways. Many people lost their homes and went on the road in search of work. Oklahoma and the mid-west was doubly affected due to the Dust Bowl that destroyed their farms. […]
The Great Depression and Dust Bowl were difficult years in United States History. Many people left their farms and became migrant workers due to the Dust Bowl and traveled to California to pick vegetables and fruit. This song Why don’t you write a letter home? was performed by Sam Bell in Tuolumne County, California on […]
On a cloudless sunny morning with a comfortable breeze blowing from the south, an event took place that changed the barren land of Oklahoma forever. On April 22, 1889, thousands of potential settlers from all over the world lined up to participate in the Oklahoma land rush. The rushers massed along the line by 9:00 […]
Many people traveled to California from all over the country in the 1930’s seeking work due to the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. They traveled in many vehicles, by trains, trucks, cars and many were homemade trailers. Some even walked. Dorothea Lange, photograher captured many of these various modes of transportation. The song, A Traveler’s […]
(I imagine there were many deaths from just breathing this air for so many years.) Where would you go if you saw this coming toward you? Dust bowl refugee from Chickasaw, Oklahoma. Imperial Valley, California. “Black Sunday, 1934, that was the awfullest dust we ever did see” photographer Dorothea Lange Abandoned farm of the […]
Great Depression and Dust Bowl Between the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, families had no other course but to leave the prairie lands and immigrant to the western states to become migrant workers. Below are vivid photographs documenting the difficulties they encountered on the road and interviews by the WPA with four men, Wayne […]
